Deathgame 2062, Another obscure file from my notes Options

[Mercer]

Deathgame 2062 was my nod to The Running Man (book and movie), Smash TV, Unreal Tourament, paintball, and reality shows. Here's the run down:

I think it would be neat if the pc’s were hired/tricked/forced to participate in a South American death tourney for maybe 50,000 nuyen a game, and say a five game commitment. Have them assigned court-appointed theatrical agents (10% Industry Standard, 20% for convicted killers, and so on). They can be sold by those who do not wish to be bothered with them any longer (waste of a tax-payers dollar) to an Aztlan based entertainment company who wants to make them a star (even if it has to be a posthumous title).

In fact, this could be The Village that I have been thinking about adapting to Shadowrun for oh so long. The pc’s agree to join the company (or, in the case of some, are sold to the company), and then are transported to the village without knowing where they are going. They do not even know what continent they are on (though they can probably rule out Antarctica).

The Village lies in an equatorial region, maybe Africa or South America or the Pacific or New Zealand or Caribbean League. Literally, “Anywhere in the World.� Maybe Malaysia. A tourist resort in an extremely isolated area, this luxury retreat is fifty years old, and fallen to neglect. The company took it over and refurbished it on a limited budget, but it is kept in good repair. The company then buys prisoners, soldiers, mercs and whoever else wants to die for profit and lets them live there in the Casa de Muerte (as it is known to a few of the guards, if we stick with the Azt connection). It is on a small island, which the company claims is the mainland because they want people to try to escape.

They are fed and live in relative comfort. The food isn’t bad, the rooms are dry and air-conditioned, the water clean. There is a full gym, athletic court, a couple of pools, plus the beach and local wildlife trails (on the peninsula side of the isle). A golf course is maintained (9-hole, mostly par four). All basic needs are provided for. (Golf is considered a basic need.) Escorts are brought in from any of several mainlands, usually for a week. Escort services are pretty basic, players are allowed to pay out of pocket for higher (or for that matter, lower) class escorts and services. Nothing is forbidden. The resort also maintains a hospital with cybersurgery capabilities. Any grade cyberware can be purchased at a discount, or installed on credit (an incentive/blackmail tactic to keep players in the game). It makes more efficient players.

The Contract. 50,000 Nuyen per match, with a commitment of three matches minimum. Or Five. Three seems too few, five seems too many. Four is just wrong. We’ll have to see how it goes. Escape attempts count (they are televised).

After the first few, survivors can be engaged for 100,000 per match. The company will try to get a three game commitment, but won’t press for it. This is when the company actively tries to kill the players. Ringers, faulty gear, ambushes, set-ups, what have you, the company likes to kill players. It sends half the balance of a players account to his listed beneficiary, if there is one. Otherwise, they just keep it all.

Players who survive these three matches are plucky, and pluck is worth bucks. A player that’s gone eight in The Show can just about name his or her price, especially since the company doesn’t have to pay them if they die and can keep half the player’s previous balance.

Money rules as follows: A player cannot transfer more than 10% of his payment off-island. 10% of payment is automatically removed as an agent fee (20% for prisoners and slaves). A prisoner also pays 50% automatically to the penal system that sold him (paying your debt to society). Basic living expenses are comp’ed. Luxury expenses—alcohol, drugs, chips, sex, a jeep for the day is all extra, though quite reasonable really. Also, advertising rights of prisoners are the sole property of the company.

As a side note, prisoners can never leave the game. They play till they die. The company realizes this would negatively impact morale, so they don’t tell people. Why bring up bad news?

Matches vary in nature, but most follow and Unreal Tournament mold (Assault, capture the flag, death match, etc.) Rogue Spear may be added here, with terrorist hunt and hostage rescue missions.

Players are provided with their choice of weapons and armor, within reason. This means basic items. Other items can be purchased out of a fighter’s prize purse (special weapons, ammo, armors, etc), as negotiated by the contestant or his agent.

The geography of the resort and island is as follows. The resort is located on the beach. There is a resort community the size of a small city, about half of which is reclaimed by the jungle and the other half maintained as a pseudo-city—this is where many of the matches take place—a short distance away. The city is off-limits, except during matches. Players are given a short tour before they are asked to lay down their lives. A rusted tanker is anchored a few hundred meters offshore, for matches that involve a tanker. The resort maintains a heliport for supplies and such, and a mock airport for matches involving an airport. A mostly hollowed out, but well groomed, 727 or what have you, resides there. There may also be an offshore platform a few kilometers away for matches than involve an offshore platform.

The majority of the players are fodder. They are hired, get killed and are never paid, though the corporation does pay itself half the balance anyway. The company makes its money by viding the matches and selling the product on the open (black) market. Pay-Per-View and whatnot. Also, they have a new feature allowing people the simsense the match. I’m told it’s very popular. Illicit monies (tax- and tariff-free!) are in the tens of millions per market. Open markets exist in Aztlan, Asia, most of Europe, Australia, some tribal lands, and black markets exist everywhere else. Matches are shown live and people bet on them heavily. It’s the live sport thing that really rakes in the dough, and second hand matches circulate heavily as a sick, side-interest sort of thing. In places where matches are legal, the company owns the rights to advertise and such. Advertising deals for players (who aren’t prisoners) are brokered by the company (with a 20% agent fee), with the balance paid to the player in any account he wishes.

Side note: A player who can elect to have a simsense recorder implanted at no cost to him or herself, with a bonus equal to the going rate of a match paid into their company account.

Many corporations lend or give new equipment to the company to be used in their death matches. Most megas shy away from this because it is bad publicity (Azt may be the exception, Renraku too), but their military subsids go all for it. Equipment is usually ready for the market, and the corps pay to have their guns shown in a preferred light. Weapons, armor, cyberware and such all have endorsement deals. As do many sport drinks and athletic wear.

Matches are played weekly, give or take. Big matches maybe once a month. They are played at all times, day or night and rain or shine. Atmospheric conditions are good for ratings. Matches are beamed live via satellite to all markets who pay for them, and are scrambled otherwise. Matrix security is very tight.

Island security: Is tight. The geo-synchronous satellite that beams the matches to the world also acts as a spy satellite for the island, providing a high-res heat sensitive picture of the entire surface of the island. The satellite could read a license plate if for some reason the ass end of a car pointed skyward. The island is light jungle, it doesn’t have enough old growth to have a canopy that could blank the picture, but some hiding is possible.

Resort security is rigged and tight. There are cameras everywhere. Player hijinx is vided, incase it turns out to be interesting. Big matches often have pre-game shows that show players in drunker bar fights, in the gym, abusing hookers or what have you. All of this is good 3v. (In a society who's idoltry is violence, the only glory is the glory of war.)

The company maintains a small private army. Players are issued weapons at the pre-game and all gear is reclaimed afterwards. Normal clothes are about the only gear the players have in their daily lives. Books, 3v, chips, and other such entertainment are comped or bought at the going rate. Smoking is allowed, No-Smoking areas exist but are rarely observed. The mood of the resort is sort of a prison/mental hospital/war zone. Add “zoo� to that list as well.

Players are monitored as much as possible at all times. Inside the resort this includes visual and auditory. Outside the resort, players are mainly just tracked by the satellite, and not listened in on with technology. Watchers also patrol and monitor people. The Company isn’t that concerned with escape attempts as most are there voluntarily and no communication with the outside world is allowed, except for independent theatrical agents, which I will discuss later.

Astral security is likewise tight. The Company maintains a strong support of magical types, and many astral sec measures such as Spirits, Elementals, Dual-Natures and Watchers. A watcher for every person is wasteful, but sec risks are closely monitored. Mainly, a perimeter is maintained and anyone leaving the island is pounced on. It’s more difficult to monitor underwater, but tech takes over with sonic nets and such. Bioforms can’t get very far underwater.

Internal security operates on a hands-off policy. The Company tries to get away from the truth of the imprisonment. Players are not allowed to kill or seriously injure one another, nothing that would affect playing ability. Punishment in this area can be pretty strict (the company must protect its investment).

Players: Vary. Many, as said, are fodder. They come and go with the wind. Nameless, faceless dead men.

Some are pretty good. Combat mages, deadly phys ads, overwired razor boyz, stone psychotics, drug and chip jazzers, vampires, banshees, shape shifters, etc etc. They run the gamut from incompetent to god-like, and are housed and pampered and paid accordingly. Paranormal, quasi-normal, abby normal: this place gets them all.

So that's it in the broad strokes. Details to follow.